Aircraft fuselages define an interior of an aircraft, and provide structural integrity to ensure that an aircraft exhibits sufficient strength to withstand the rigors of flight. For aluminum aircraft, pieces of fuselage may be created as panel assemblies, which are then assembled into barrel sections. The barrel sections are attached to each other in the lengthwise direction to form a lengthwise tube.
In order to form each panel assembly, pieces of aircraft skin known as skin details may be fastened to corresponding lengthwise stringers according to a contour. This combination of skin details and stringers is known as a skin assembly. These skin assemblies may also have frames (also known as frame segments/elements) arranged, hoop-wise relative to the stringers, that help to hold contour. Multiple skin assemblies may be attached via longitudinal skin splices and hoopwise frames, resulting in a completed super panel conforming to the contour. That is, the combination of skin assemblies and frames is known as a super panel. Super panels may be fabricated from multiple skin assemblies, and super panels are joined to other super panels form a barrel section. That is, individual super panels are attached together to form a barrel section (e.g., a portion of the fuselage having a substantially circular cross-section) consisting of multiple super panels. For example, each super panel may form a ninety degree hoop-wise arc of the barrel section, and four super panels may be attached together to complete the barrel section. Hereinafter, “super panels” may be referred to simply as “panels.” The panels are formed with a desired contour using methods and/or assembly structures.
However, after a panel is removed from its assembly structure and before the panel has been combined with other panels into a barrel section, it is not uncommon for the panel contour to undesirably change. This change in shape away from a desired contour defined during the panel assembly is unwanted, as it complicates the process of assembling multiple panels into a single unified barrel section. Thus, it is desired to enhance fabrication techniques for barrel sections that avoid this issue.